Getting down to business

The students have arrived and the program is in full swing.

Some highlights of the day;

First case study taught
"Ethical Problems in Public Careers: Lying". The students were sharp and I barely had to say anything the whole class. Yes, you read that right. They pretty much self moderated, a very good sign. I can not describe the pure bliss of watching smart, engaged, and open minded students discuss things of substance. It's why I love education.

"The pursuit of the Russian Visa"
I'm inching closer to acquiring my visa for my trip to St. Petersburg, Russia at the end of the July. Nerve racking, but quite fun. If it were easy I wouldn't be interested in going.

Trip Planning, Taking advantage of what DC has to offer
Tuesday morning I'm leading a group of students to attend a forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center in the Ronald Reagan Building for a panel discussion titled, "An Israeli-Palestian Agreement? What's Possible and What Isn't". The panelists are;

Shai Feldman
Director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies
and Professor of Politics, Brandeis University

Hussein Ibish
Senior Fellow, American Task Force on Palestine

Aaron David Miller
Public Ploicy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center

Moderator, Jackson Diehl
Deputy Editorial Page Editor and Columnist, The Washington Post

Link

Some of the other faculty are taking students to two different events at the Brookings Institute, one on social networking and the other and technology and innovation. The last group is headed to the Senate for a hearing on Libya and War Powers. You know the typical Tuesday morning at SPS.